Vietnam Serenade
1984 · Mortarhate MORT 6 · Eltham, UK: England
- Artist
- Conflict
- Title
- Vietnam Serenade
- Release
- Increase the Pressure
- Year
- 1984
- Label
- Mortarhate # MORT 6
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- Eltham, UK: England
- Genre
- Punk · Anarcho Punk · Hardcore Punk
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
This British punk band formed in Eltham, South London in 1981. The original line up included Colin Jerwood (vocals), Francisco Carreno (drums), Big John (bass guitar), Steve (guitars), and Pauline (vocals). They used the Vietnam conflict to warn the US against further interventionist policies under President Reagan in the song "Vietnam Serenade" - released on their own record label, Mortarhate Records (# MORT 6). The narrator argued that whether or not a country had a communist or fascist regime, the US ought to avoid war. However, because "they were not on the wrong end of napalm", the government and military continued to seek out "power and glory". They concluded the song be posing the question: "will Vietnam be the forerunner to El Salvador?" - a reference to US intervention in the Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992). The US supplied large amounts of military aid to the military-led government against left-wing guerrilla groups.Note: Napalm B, classified as a chemical weapon, caused devastating burn wounds - a jellied gasoline mixture, with polystyrene, benzene, and gasoline. Declared a war-crime since 1980, the US government used it extensively during the Vietnam conflict, dropping 388,000 tons on Indochina between 1963 and 1973. The Dow Chemical Company, the largest suppler of napalm to the US military, became a target of Vietnam protests.12 Sources1Napalm: An American Biography (Robert M. Neer, 2013)↩2The War Within: America's Battle Over Vietnam (Tom Wells, 2005)↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Punk Songs
This British Anarcho-Punk band formed in Eltham, South London in 1981. The original line up included Colin Jerwood (vocals), Francisco Carreno (drums), Big John (bass guitar), Steve (guitars), and Pauline (vocals). They used the Vietnam conflict to warn the US against further interventionist policies under President Reagan in the song "Vietnam Serenade" - released on their own record label, Mortarhate Records (# MORT 6). The narrator argued that whether or not a country had a communist or fascist regime, the US ought to avoid war. However, because "they were not on the wrong end of napalm", the government and military continued to seek out "power and glory". They concluded the song be posing the question: "will Vietnam be the forerunner to El Salvador?" - a reference to US intervention in the Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992). The US supplied large amounts of military aid to the military-led government against left-wing guerrilla groups. Note: Napalm B, classified as a chemical weapon, caused devastating burn wounds - a jellied gasoline mixture, with polystyrene, benzene, and gasoline. Declared a war-crime since 1980, the US government used it extensively during the Vietnam conflict, dropping 388,000 tons on Indochina between 1963 and 1973. The Dow Chemical Company, the largest suppler of napalm to the US military, became a target of Vietnam protests.12 Sources1Napalm: An American Biography (Robert M. Neer, 2013)↩2The War Within: America's Battle Over Vietnam (Tom Wells, 2005)↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: It don't really matter if it's communist red / Or whether it's fascism that causes the fatal blow to the head / America still don't realise its mistake in 'Nam / But they were not on the wrong end of the napalm / They still carry on their search for power and glory... / Will Vietnam be the forerunner to El Salvador?
About the artist
English anarcho-punk band formed 1981 in London. [Source: Wikipedia]